How does a supernova explosion happen?🤔

 

A supernova is the final, gigantic explosion of a supergiant star, at the end of its life.

A supernova can happen in two ways firstly, a star has enough mass. 

When burning ends, the radiation pressure suddenly stops and gravity causes the star to collapse into hard neutron dense core, then it bounces out.

Secondly, it is also possible that a star, with much less than the necessary mass burns out and becomes a white dwarf. 

Then, this white dwarf gains some mass to tip it over the edge, which then causes sudden huge fusion. 

Evolution of a Supernova
Credit.: NASA

This is so big that the star will totally explode, in a supernova.

A supernova lasts for just a week or so but shines, as bright as, a galaxy of 100 billion ordinary stars.

Although, many supernovae have been seen in nearly galaxies yet, supernova explosions are relatively rare events in out own Galaxy, happening once a century or so on an average. 

The last nearby supernova explosion occured in 1690.

Video illustration of a Supernova Explosion

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FunFact:-

In 1987, there was a supernova explosion, in the Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way.

This supernova, 1987A, had been first viewed, with the naked eye.

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